tonight in the war room one stepuloser to the death of tax cuts for the rirch and twinkies. well this is strange. the president says that in order to avoitd the fiscal cliff republicans need to be open to new revenue. and then the republicans said they are open to new revenue. it looks like they are working together. | [music] |. | [music] |

indeed, top congressional leaders met with the president today to discuss the if fiscal cliff of 46 days before we could go over it. a quick refresher, here is what it would mean. it would mean close to 500 billion in automatic cuts to defense and domestic spending. it would mean the expiration of all the bush tax cuts and an tax inacross of 3,700 for american taxpayers. i'm just saying it ain't gonna happen, but the president wants to keep the bush tax cuts for families earning los angeles than 250 50,000 and allow them

toks pyre on wealthy americans. >> we have to make sure that taxes don't go up on middle class families that our chi remains -- economy remains strong. our challenge is to make sure that we are able to cooperate together work together and find common ground. >> and it looks like actually might find that common ground. the republicans had previously only said they would be open to closing loopholes to increase revenue, but after the meeting mitch mcconnell indicated he might be willing to goa a little further. >> we are prepared to put rev now on the table as long as we fix the real member. our problems believe we are in the dilemma we for not because we don't tax enough is because we spend too much. >> whether it's raising rates or closing loo holes is in the fine

print. speaker banor said rev mew could on the table. of and adding to the friendly mood the president wished speaker john banor a happy birthday. >> we didn't know how many candles were needed. >> yeah, right. >> we want to wish him a happy birth day. >> thank you. thank you. >> that is so nice when they play together nicely. and wall street thought it was nice too the dow shot up 100 points immediately following the meeting and it closed up 45 after as we all know what was a really rocky week for the stock market. joining me now to talk about what else we can expect beside is birthday cakes is the political scholar at the american entterprize institute

coming to us from washington d.c. norm pleased to welcome you back in the war room. >> it's a pleasure. >> maybe you will got i a saving from the fiscal cliff too. who knows. >> i didn't get free contraceptives, it's just terrible. >> you didn't get any free stuff from the government? you were ripped off. >> i'm iting you. i -- i'm telling you i feel bereft. >> let's try to make you feel bet are by entering into the wonk zone where you feel comfortable. let's start with this whole meeting. what do you you think of mcconnell and boehner putting it on the table. >> mitch mccoppell had negative comments after at election. let's not take this to the bank.

we have difficult negotiations ahead. what it seems to me has been made clear they will set is a revenue target and find a way to meet it and is it will have to increase some rates. by reducing the number of deductions. there will be significant changes in entitlements and democrats may have is a hard time with that. we may not get there until the end of december. you can imagine going through the negotiations and at the end of december boehner and mcconnell saying let's keep the tack cuts in place while we continue to negotiate. the president has to be firm. >> i completely agree with everything you just said.

boehner after the meeting hinted he would be wiling to kick the can down the road and have the temporary solution. >> yeah. >> what would that mean for the markets? what would that mean for his caucus. do you think that's the most likely sceneario? >> the most positive is that some how they reach you a template. we are not talking about a full-blown dooley that provides -- it means a new budget resolution ordering the committees to come up with the right revenue and guidelines and the changes in spending before january 1. the second most likely and most positive they can't quite get there but delay for a couple of weeks and thatted -- that will

be fine for the markets. if they can't reach it and the president says i'm not going to extend this for three or six months we will go over the cliff and i'll propose my tax cut plan after all the other taxes disappear and we'll take it from there. there is a good chance we end up with a second alternative. i'm skeptical given the number of hard decisions to make given the fact the senate that has been negotiating 40 senators on just these issues with business help for a can youy of months can't seem to get there ask we'll get it done before january know 1. >> i'm curious about this because it is a cabuicky dance. if the president is strong and clear about his willingness to go over the fiscal cliff, in a perverse way doesn't that help john boehner to get an agreement before that happens? >> i believe that's the case. you need to be in had you

a position and ronald reagan negotiated this way beautifulliy multiple times. boehner has to say this guy is crazy he will take us over the cliff and we have the worst possible case, we have to cut that deal. the deal at best is going to get half the republicans and a little more than haf the democrats. the president has to make sure he keeps his democrats in the tent because they are not going to be happy with some of the elements of change and we have seen a coalition of labor and liberals saying no way. >> so, in the nitty-gritty before we get to entitlements. what if -- would it be better if we increase taxes on a larger group of people everybody making over 250,000 by a smaller amount or increasing taxes on a smaller

group making more than a million and go up to 39.6%. what is more likely to happen? >> it's more likely to be the former than the latter. i must tell you jennifer, i don't much care, you have to get that revenue target. the president said 1.6 trillion. you probably end up compromising at 1.2 trillion from taxes. you have to figure out what you can extract and what you can get from those making over 500,000. we will have to limit it, in a way is unfortunate. we need this revenue to those who still make a lot of money. however you work out a formula it probably means you have to do it with a lot of changes and deductions that will hit those making over two50,000. >> i agree with you and your target number, it will be 1.2 trillion. my last question to you do you

think embedded in this grand bargain we'll see reforming the tack code to -- tax code to close the loopholes or get a agreement on filibuster reform? >> i think not filibuster reform on this deal. broader tax reform is almost certainly going to be a part of it. we need to have reforms of the spending process and ought to bring back the pay as you go budgeting that worked well and if barack obama doesn't have the debt limit he should be sued for political malpractice. >> that is going to happen as well. norm, i could talk about this with you all night. i appreciate you coming to explain what is going on. political scholar at the

political enterprise institute. >> as the twimpgy goes, so goes america. well, let's hope not anyway. we'll tell you what the demise of the snack with the snack in the middle has to do with organized labor. >> and the freshman from the great state of michigan. don't get too attached to him. he will only go to congress for seven weeks. >> and later on the front lines of health care with our doctor office of last resort. a few film takes us inside the waiting room. >> three in the hallway. and you are going to get y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y (vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the

highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

[ forsythe ] we don't just come up here for the view up in alaska. it's the cleanest, clearest water. we find the best sweetest crab for red lobster that we can find. [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's crabfest! the only time of year you can savor 5 succulent crab entrees all under 20 dollars.

like a half-pound of tender snow crab paired with savory grilled shrimp, just 12.99. or our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake. [ forsythe ] if i wouldn't put it on my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe and i sea food differently. >> you're back inside the war room. we spent a lot of type covering the election this year but with so many races some flew under the radar and one was the special election for michigan's 11th district. ed thatious mccoter resigned in july because of the signatures on his election petition, many were invalid. enterdavid curson. he he up with the special eelectric to fill out the

remainder of mccoter's term, which, get this, is just seven weeks. you may think this qualifies him as having the shortest congressional term ever. it doesn't. there are three other short termers in this congress alone in addition to curson. in case you are wondering for the record the shortest term ever goes to louisiana representative lawrence who served just one day in march of 1875. coming to us from washington is david curson. welcome inside the war room. >> how are you doing governor? >> doingreat.. d y ou ever imagine one day you would be a member of congress. how cool is that? >> very cool and very unexpected. >> what happened? you obviously i know -- if you

could explain to people how you got there for only seven weeks briefly. >> mccoter resigned in july the sitting representative out of the 11th district. and the petition deadline for the fullterm had closed. we had to find somebody to run and we just didn't hand off to the party that created all this gridlock one more person to come to this important lame duck session with the pledge, somebody that wasn't going to do anything. so we vetted a whole bunch of people that might be interested and some how it ended up on me. >> well, sometimes when you're in the room you are the last guy to raise and stand and volunteer. it'sy so awesome is. if you are only in office seven

weeks what is your living situation like? are you sleeping in our office in dc? >> actually for the first week because i brought family down for the swearing in ceremony we stayed in hotels. as you know hotels in washington are very expensive and you pay for that out of your pocket. we will go home to district meetings sunday. when we return we are not sure where we will live. my chief of staff mccartiy you know well. >> that just maacs me laugh it's totally awesome. >> we have a place to stay until we have our feet on the ground and we may be in the office a time or too. >> bunking with john dingley you could do worse. you helped broaber -- broker the

autobail out. i want to pick your brain and you know about intense negotiations. because you know how to negotiate as a member of the uaw and been around bargaining table, what advice would you give members of congress and the president to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. >> first of all you can't negotiate in the media. we learned that a long time ago. if you create expectations you can't deliver or if you put barriers up you can't get over, you will just never get done. there is enough on this table. there is truly enough on this table where everybody can get a small piece of this pie. everybody will suffer if we go over the cliff. nobody will avoid it and there is enough legislation if we honestly sit down and talk we

can get there. >> we will get there. if would be nice -- it would be nice to happen while you are still there. let me ask you a labor issue hot today and everybody is talking about how the maker of twimpgies and wonder bread is shutting down. do you think that situation could have is been avoided? >> you hate to talk about a situation you are not personally involved in. we were in session most of the day and i only got bits and pieces about what happened. this is another tranl -- tragedy. that company came out of a restructuring where the employees gave up a lot and rather than spending the money coming out of restructuring on technologies and ways to become more efficient they tripled the ceo's pay and gave bonuses and

now they are coming back and asking again for huge concessions. i know the workers have sacrificed and sacrificed and it seems that it is the same thing that is wrong with america greed is taking over on the top end. >> last piece of good news i the to end on, chrysler announced it is investing a quarter of a billion dollarsada -- adding new jobs in michigan. i know you believe michigan is on the rebound after all the pain we have been through. >> without a doubt. being led by the autoindustry and it wouldn't have been there without the president and the work we did in bringing that industry back. >> all right. well, congratulations for your new position and i hope you relish is it and take action and do what you can while you are there to keep the country from going

over the cliff and they are lucky to have you. that's representative congressman david curson. >> next of. if we want america to truly come back, then we have to restore its back bone. that is manufacturing. we'll talk about that afterra the break. we conclude our week-long series on hunger with a story every person >>now let's get some real news. (vo) first, news and analysis with a washington perspective from an emmy winning insider. >>you couldn't say it any more powerfully than that. >> current tv, on the roll. (vo)followed by humor and politics with a west coast edge. >>ah, thank you. >>it really is incredible. (vo)bill press and stephanie miller, current's morning news block. weekdays six to noon.

>> this is the cbs evening news. good evening. general motors confirm touchdown, it is going to close plants employing automatic 30 thousand worker juries today we are announcing the closing of 11 of our older plants. >> while detroit and pontiac will be hurt by the shut down, the effect on flint is absolutely devastating. >> that's a clip from michael moore's 1989 classic documentary roger and me that chronicles the decline of automanufacturing. general motors alone had shed massive amounts of-ing jobs. the united states has lost 50,000 factories in communities all across the country. but today the picture may not be quite as bleak of.

chrysler amountainsed it is -- announce today isada adding 1,250 jobs in michigan after the rescue of the autoindustry and are starting to see a bit of resurgence in manufacturing. the next guest believes it is on the upswing. he is the author of the new book entrepreneurial nation. ro khann a thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> you you are an optimist about manufacturing? >> i am. some of the trends are promising, the rising wages and abundance of gas in the united states and ceos are learning it doesn't make sense to separate design from production. >> i agree that people need to see a product as it comes off

the assemly line. >> you have been saying this for many years now the business community is realizing it makes economic sense to have that intgrated. >> we have seen an upswing. before 2010 we had a mind set in had this country government should be hands off when it is comes to any industry and any industrial policy was bad for america. what do you recommend in terps of policy -- terms of policy. give me your top suggestions. they should read alex anaer hamilton's report on manufacturing and is he talks about what we need to do and some of the thing things are applicable now having the right work force development and incumbent vesting in a-- investing in a work force and having infrastructure spending. and third having the right tax

policies. other countries you get free land free rent. here we could have a capital gains tax holiday. >> we have billions if not trillions parked offshore by a number of manufactures who are not bringing that money back home repateerating that money. if they bridge it home and require them to invest in infrastructure or something you could see hope. >> that's is common sense ideas where we could get the left and right get together and have conditions. if companies bring it back make sure they are expanning the work force. >> we are cop peteing against -- cop peteing against china and

others are being aggressive in offering free land and robust industrial policy. what you are suggesting is the u.s. has to get in the game. >> richard mcgregor says the challenge of america is that it needs to be more like america and not chine a. the other countries are copying what we did. we would have strong investment in the work force. >> why did we turn away from it? >> in the 1880s you had a sense of -- for all those who say don't let america become like europe they quote for a radical ideology of no government intervention and that hasn't been america's huftry. we need to tell the proper story that even president reagan invested in a government program to help small and medium sized

businesses cop -- compete. >> if the u.s. is not in the game we are aiding and abetting the decision of manufacturers to go offshore and facilitating the loss of jobs. do republicans step up to be able to provide the incentives that are necessary? >> republicans should look at their own history. president reagan cared deeply about the steel and autoindustry. >> i have to ask you one more question. are you going to run for office? >> yes. >> what office? >> congress and if i could be haf as successful as your public service career. >> i hope you go and make sure you have manufacturing policies that create jobs in america. that should be your platform. i would vote for you. thank you for joining us. next from the war room to the mrnl room. inside a new film that

spotlights the front lines of america's health care crisis. >> he had a bullet left in him two-days ago from when he is was shot and he didn't feel

>> some republican governors have decided to it the president essentially to go ahead and ichelement your stimpgin' health care yourself. wisconsin and ohio deferred to the government to run their state health version and wisconsin's scott walker today tweeted this:

yesterday the obama administration pushed back the deadline which was set for today at the request of bob mcdonell. they were trying to decide whether in a would opt into obama care. they kicked it back. 13 governors have until december 14th to make up their minds about who is going to run the state exchanges their state or the federal government. it will allow the uninsured and small businesses to purchase health insurance at reasonable rates and the goal being that we insure everybody. making health insurance accessible is the simple guiding point of obama care. most health care providers can turn away uninsured patients but emergency rooms are barred from doing so. in 2,010, 23 million uninsured

americans ended up in the er. there is a new critically aclaimed documentary called the waiting room that chronicles the flow of uninsured patients inand out of oakland's hugh land hospital. i want -- high land hospital. i want to show you a clip where a persistent sore throat sends a man and his daughter to the er >> i'm so nervous. >> it's okay to be nervous. >> that's what daddies do, they are nervous. >> i just want her to get seen. >> she will. >> the first time i have gone almost a year without a job. having those benefits is how important the job is to have somebody look at her as soon as possible. >> now since he -- if he had insurance and she had a doctor that could have been cured

earlier and saved her family and our nation's public health care that would have saved time and money. peter 96 -- peter be you have done the work chronicling that er. of you created an a political film. >> i noticed that i came out of grad school and i went to berkeley journalism school and came out with my masters in film and my wife came out with a masters in speech pathology and she took a job thea the hospital where -- the hospital where we made the film. i was struck with the stories she would come home and the epic of a relationship between an institutions and a community. this was beforehealth care

became such a politically divisive issue. i wanted to tell the story of how people are getting by diby day. it became i a big hot but then polit -- political issue. the voices of those people in the waiting rooms weren't being represented. it is dominated by, no offense mede pundits and lobbyists and people sit ising in the waiting rooms are not getting on twitter and facebook. >> this gives them a voice. >> yes. >> have people experience what they are experiencing. >> right. >> i will show a scene here of a patient at the beginning of the process of settling a bill. >> this will be all free, right? >> absolutely not. there are very few things in life that are absolutely free. give you a break on the price.

there is a cost. >> the lowest, lowest, lowest cost okay. >> so interesting. how is this issue? people are scared and they are in the middle of negotiating health care payments at hospitals. how is this death with in the -- dealt with the emergency room. >> not free, right? i was surprised. a lot of people assume gu to public hospital they will care for you and you walk out and you don't have is a bill. one of the things that struck me that's not the case. as soon as the bleeding stops you sit with a financial counselor and they run you through the ringer and see if you have the ability to pay. if you do, it is a sliding scale and they have programs to handle your ability to pay. you will get a bill. >> they send you a bill but he might not be able to afford that

and that is part of the cost of uncomp soughted care the -- uncompensated care the hospitals have to bear as part of the public system. >> the hospital has the burden and double because if a patient doesn't pay that patient, what happens the collection agent. >> exactly. >> it's a double-edged sword and we wanted to capture that. >> if there was a way to get access to health care to distribute the care more equitably. you don't show what happens to the patients in the end. why not? >> we wanted to break from convention in a number of ways. in the last several years highly political very point of view driven films are popular that are disaster docs, here is the problem and solution and here is how you can get involved.

we wanted to take a step back and allow an immersive experience for the audience so when politicians that represent a huge swath of electorate like mitt romney says we have health care for everyone that we have a point of reference for what that looks like. what does it feel like? what does it look like to navigate the system? we didn't want to sort of muck things up with the political point of view and felt it would be important to allow the voices -- >> if somebody wants to see the film where do they go? >> we are in limited theetical release. >> can they go on-line? >> they can google the waiting room. >> thank you for coming inside of our war room. we spent a lot of time talking about how hung i affects children. we go to the other end of the

spectrum and find the problems just as criririririririririririririririririririririririririririririririri (vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

>> home toio sim tee nation willal park is a magnet for seniors looking for a quiet retirement in one of nature's most beautiful spots. for many that dream is giving

way to economic hardship. they are among the close to 15% of seniors at risk of hunger. in part four of feeding the need,ly we look at the lives of seniors and an inyovative food bank doing more than provide just food. >> being born before the depression you learned how to pinch pennies and save for a rainy day. >> since her husband passed away 12 years ago, 84-year-old barbara has had to make due on $1,000 a month from two small pensions. >> i don't use too much water particularly in the supper time. because can go sky high. electricity has been accommodating to peep people like me. even with their assistance i have to figure things out ahead of tim.

>> here calculations didn't include breast cancer. hur surgeon prescribe aid pill form of como therapy. her cost with medicare? 199 for two weeks worth of pills. she turned to her health care providers and a social worker for help and they got the cost down to zero. >> that's when you ask for help. >> after almost two years of treatment barbara is cancer-free, but her other expepses don't leave enough to cover the basics like food. she gets help here at this food bank run by the community action agent in jamestown california. on this day her son aviate nap veteran helps her make the trip. >> would you like. >> it's a gift from heaven and i realize it isn't. it's from people here on earth.

>> barbara is not alone. according to the american association of retired people close to 9 million americans over the age of 50 are at risk of hunger every day. a whopping 79% increase in just the last decade. >> half of who we feed are seniors. >> lee kimbell is director of a food bank that serves 500 seniors. >> there is a lot of actives here for seniors and a nice lifestyle and inflation happened over the last 10 years or so we have had horrible economic down turns and they become more frail >> what got us, otherwise there will be no problem. >> 74 year eald fred ham is a retired dairy farp worker. he and his wife bought this property and moved here than yoors ago and live on a fixed income just a little above the

poverty line. fred's health problems have strained a tight beneficial. >> he had to have his neck operated on, it was stopped up. he had to have stents in his heart, they were stopped up. >> they rely on the food bank to get by. they picked up fresh produce for themselves and neighbors delivered to a nearby fire station. >> oh, they had so much good stuff today. >> yeah. >> they usually do have a lot of good stuff over there. >> twice a month and make sure families have access to fresh foods. it's critical to health. >> 40% of the food they distribute is fresh produce and dairy, something that can be hard to come by for those relying on food banks. >> nobody is monitoring to make sure there is access to whole nutrition. many food banks want to change from being food banks to

nutrition banks. >> it means a lot to all of us. a lot of people who can't bring themselves to say it out loud. but that has never stopped me from anything. >> while the food bank is a god send for seniors like barbara some have a hard time accepting the idea they need help putting food on the table. >> i have seen diabetics who waited two-days because their pride is more important than what is happening to their bodies and you know what can happen to them. it can be life life-threatening. i have seen people beg for toilet paper and when they got a head of broccoli because they hadn't had vegetals. >> jane lives with her house outside of town. they get i by on less than 1,000 a machine. disability ?k he receives because he was working on -- injured working on a construction job. jane was injured on her job as manager at a hardware store and

she fell from a ladder and said she never expected to need help with grocerys. >> i never thought id get hurt at work or my husbanded get hurt at work. he made really good money. it was just something that kind of all happened at once. >> the first trip to the food bank was particularly tough. >> it is embarrassing and you don't know anybody and you kind of go and like, okay are they looking down their noses at us. >> lee kipble say is her volunteers work to ease anxiety and shame. the second someone walks in the door. >> we want to keep their anxiety level down and it's scare toe ask for -- scary to ask for food and the volunteer and recipient will swap stories and put together a food plan. you can't just go to one place. you are probably going to need to use all your resources to make it to the end of the month.

>> next is reducing the stigma of need to ask theme to volunteer as well. >> it is so important that we do not exchange dignity for food. belonging to a community and being able to share your gift is what ends poverty not money. >> her efforts have paitd off. of the more than 1,000 working there, only three are paid staff. the rest are volunteers. more than half are also clients. >> you know the people and enjoy the people. that's what i.e., go for. for the people. >> everybody there is to help everybody else. if you get ahold of something that you can't use my next door neighbor has four the children. anything i can't eat all of you i give to them and they can put it away and here i am being friendly and they are being neighborly and i just enjoy

that. >> this community allows the food bank to stretch its dollars too. donated goods and volunteer service account for more than 80% of the food bank's 1.8 million budget. the federal government and private foundation money make up the rest. the food bank gets no money from the state. jane smith is hoping things will get better for her is her husband. >> i am going to get older and i know it will be more difcull. >> the hamms worry too and feel as long as they are together they can fix whatever tomorrow will bring. >> if we work together on everything and together whatever we do. >> for lee kim kimball the immediate concern is getting through the holidays. >> it is like you jumped out of an airplane without a parachute

and you have is made promises you hope you can keep. i am banking on the goodness of people. you have to believe when nobody else does. >> for more about the community action agency and all the great organizations we have highlighted this week visit current.com/currently. this is a real and personal issue for too many americans and deserves all of our

>> viewers of the show know when it comes to joe biden i'm a big fan. but even in migrate admiration for the vice president it pales in comparison to that of one leslie mote lead character of show parks and recreation and calls him her idol and crush. last night she got to meet both.

>> welcome, welcome. >> may i'm just came out of your mouth. >> well, it did. >> this isn't happening. this isn't real. >> no, it's happening. i'm delighted to have you here. on behalf of of the president and myself. >> i deeply flattered there is no way i could take over madame secretary's potionz. >> i confident you could do that job. >> i will. >> you have done such a great job in your indiana and thank you for your public service. >> thank you. >> you are very welcome. you're very welcome. you're very welcome. >> you're very handsome. >> very nice. you thank you. >> thank you very much. >> we'll see you tomorrow. >> oh, you will? >> thank you mr. vice president. >> you're welcome. >> you don't let anything happen

to him you understand me. he is precious cargo. >> that is awesome. check us out on-line at current.com/thewarroom. one final thing before we go tonight, former michigan first lady passed away at the age of 89. her hudz husband was the republican governor and shes the leading advocate for the equal rights amendment to the constitution. if you want to be inspired and give your faith in government and the people who serve there a little tune-up take a few minutes and read up on the great and spunky and wonderful helen millicken she was a wonderful woman and our thoughts and prayers go out to her family.